Uptick in passenger traffic at airport

Volume of passenger traffic through the Cochin International Airport Limited has climbed a notch higher.

During the financial year 2012-13 the airport registered a climb of 3.74 per cent in passenger traffic against the previous fiscal.

Forty-nine lakh passengers passed through the airport during the period compared to 47.23 lakh in the previous fiscal.

The number of international passengers increased from 25.88 lakh in 2011-12 to 29.34 lakh in 20012-13, a rise of 13.37 per cent.

But the domestic passenger movement slid from 21.35 lakh in 2011-12 to 19.66 lakh in 2012-13, a dip of 7.93 per cent.

A major factor for the drop in domestic traffic was the termination of Kingfisher Airlines services, which had nearly 90 services here. But the airport made up the fall in domestic passengers with international passengers.

Flight movements through the airport increased from 41,141 in 2011-12 to 41,538 in 2012-13 thus registering a growth of one per cent during 2012-13 compared to the previous fiscal. While international flight movements increased to 20,286 in 2012-13 from 18,324 in the previous fiscal, domestic flight movements dropped from 22,817 to 21,252.